Roman Carnelian Gemstone with Demeter Holding Ear of Corn

1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.

3/4 in. (2.21 grams, 19 mm).

Set in a silver mount with beaded edge; the intaglio depicting Demeter draped, advancing left and holding ear of corns in her right hand.

Provenance

Acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s.
Important North West London collection.

Literature

Cf. Walters, H.B., Catalogue of Engraved Gems & Cameos, Greek, Etruscan & Roman in the British Museum, London, 1926, no.3342, for similar.

Footnotes

Demeter and Hecate were linked to the afterlife cult, so it is possible that the ring to which the bezel belonged was a funerary gift. Demeter (Ceres for the Romans) was the Greek goddess of the harvest, the cycle of life and death and sacred law.

CONDITION

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LOT 0674